The Runaway
by LaughAttack101
Summary: Kowalski gets very angry with Skipper and the whole team after the new arrival comes and steals his glory, but no one thought that he would go as far as running away! Now it's up to Skipper and the others to find him and fix things, before it's too late.
1. Prologue

Looking back at it now, Kowalski knows it was a mistake. But he did deserve better, he thought. On the other hand, he might not ever get things to return to normal now. He might not ever see them again. And it was all his fault.

Oh how he hurts, how he is desperate to go back and change what was done.

But he can't. And now it's too late.


	2. Not Funny

It was a normal morning in the Central Park Zoo. Skipper, as usual, was up surpisingly early, while the others slept on.

"Skipper's Log," he said onto a tape recorder, "it's 0500 hours, and the boys are still sleeping. Man, if Captian saw this team..."

Just then he decided to wait no longer. He set off the emergency alarm and climbed up their HQ ladder: into the exhibit. Now all he had to do was sit back and wait for the magic.

The other 3 burst up out of the entrance to HQ, knocking aside the fishbowl. They got into fighting positions, looking around.

"What's the emergency, Skippa?" Private wondered in his cute English accent.

"Look alive, men. If this was the real deal, you'd all be toast by now!" said the leader penguin, annoyed.

"So this wasn't the, "Real deal?" asked Kowalski.

"Men, we need to be prepared for anything! Now come on, let's begin training."

The 3 penguins followed without question, although still a little tired.

"What are we-" began Private, but Skipper held up a flipper.

"Today, we practice our triple-mega-ninja-air flips."said Skipper. They all gasped. Rico even pretended to faint dramatically. "But first - Rico! Trampoline!"

Rico regurgitated a small trampoline with no poles holding it up.

"Alright then, Rico, you first. I guess we'll keep hold of it from down here for you. You know what to do!" said Skipper. Rico climbed on, jumped until he reached high enough, and executed 3 perfect triple-mega-ninja-air flips.

"Outstanding!" Remarked Skipper. "Private, you're up."

Private repeated the same process.

"Alright! C'mon, Kowalski."

Kowalski gulped, stepping forward. He jumped until he got very high in the air, and as he was about to come down Julien came barging in, Marlene trailing behind angrily.

"What the!" yelled Skipper. He let go of the trampoline, and Kowalski came crashing to the ground, hard.

He got up slowly, holding his head.

"Skipper!" he said, but Skipper was talking to Marlene and Julien.

"Ringtail, what is it now? You can't just come bursting in during training......or any other time! Authorised personel only!"

King Julien seemed to take no notice. "I am the King, silly penguin! And the King is mad that the funny birds have taken his leachy nuts!" Skipper hated nuts, and had no idea what he would do with them.

"No, No! Julien, it's okay. We'll..........get you more nuts! ensured Marlene.

Reluctantly, he turned away. "I will get you penguin, for this........." he said. "I will!"

Skipper shook his head. "Alright, where were we?" he asked.

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Later, things went on as usual, until a new otter was brought into the zoo. Kowalski went over by himself to greet her, since Skipper was too paraniod by new animals after all this time. He saw her swimming in the water, and as soon as he did he was in love.

"Who are you?" she asked, looking at him with a tilted head.

"Hello. I'm Kowalski. I'm from the penguin exhibit over there." He pointed to it. "I came to welcome you to the zoo."

"Oh. Um, hi, Kowalski." she replied. "I'm Bernice. I'm new here from a zoo in New Jersey..............so............what do you do for fun around here?"

At the word "fun," King Julien came to the scene, doing a complicated backflip into the exhibit. "That's me!" he said. "Come to me for all your fun needs!" He flipped back out, while his tired-looking assistant Morice followed, rolling his eyes.

They burst out laughing. (Marlene wasn't there - she was still searching for more leachy nuts for Julien.)

"Hey, would you like to see our HQ?" Kowalski offered. She nodded excitedly. On the way there, they talked about science, something Kowalski was happy to find out that they were both interested in.

__________________________________________________________

Kowalski was just showing her how to get down into HQ, climbing down the ladder as he said this, when Skipper yelped of surpise. "Good gravy! Kowalski, authorised personel only! By the way, I don't think the alarms work." (You don't say!)

"Uh, Skipper, this is Bernice, the new otter. Bernice, this is Skipper." He introduced her to everyone else, as well, but Skipper didn't look pleased. Not at first, anyway. She surprised everyone with her intelligence. She even knew advanced calculus! After she left, Skipper told Kowalski that if they liked each other, she was forbidden to come here.

Kowalski denied it, plus he didn't think she had feelings for him. _Good,_ thought Skipper. _We don't need any relationships to get in the way_ _of missions._

While he thought everyone was busy training outside, Skipper made another entry to Skipper's Log.

"Skipper's Log... there's a new otter in the zoo! Arrived this morning at 0700 hours, and she's already proved to be as smart as Kowalski!" He laughed.

Kowalski heard the whole thing from his hideout near the back entrance to HQ, however. He didn't think it was so funny.

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The next chapter will be better! There's one coming up called the fight, so stay tuned!


	3. Furball Gone Missing

The Penguins were sitting around, watching their TV. Kowalski held the remote, but there was nothing good on.

Right now they were watching a comedy. There were two men - brothers, sitting at a table.

"Henry, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

The one called Henry hesitated. "I just...you know...you promise not to laugh? Or get distracted?"

The other seemed already distracted, but nodded.

"Well...Nick.."

"HA HA!!!!! LOOK AT THE CRAZY GUY ON THE TV! HE GOT HIT IN THE HEAD WITH A COCUNUT!" said the other, called Nick. There were laughing noises from the background, as there are on comedy shows, but Henry looked outraged.

Knowing the feeling, even if the show made it overly-dramatic, Kowalski flipped the channel. There was a drama on.

"You never listen to me - it's as if you don't care about me!!" shouted a woman to a man, who wasn't paying attention.

"Eh.." he said.

"You have no compassion and a cold, cold heart! You probably replaced me! Well, I've got news for you - you'll never be hearing from ME again!" She ran off.

At this the man got up and ran after her. "No, wait, stop!" But it was too late.

Kowalski flipped the channel again. There was some Texan guy, talking to his jerky comrade.

"Well lookie here! You know what, I 'been puttin up with you for far too long! Ur an A --"

Kowalski turned the TV off while Rico covered Private's ears. Kowalski tried not to think about everything, but wasn't succeeding...

He was ironically saved by Julien, who rudely came rushing in. Behind him were Morice, Marlene, and Bernice, all looking worried. By then Skipper didn't bother with the "authorised personel only" speech.

"Mort is **GONE!**" shouted Morice. Julien looked panicky.

"Now who will be there to worship and annoy me? Why must the** ugly **Morice have gone missing?" yelled Julien.

"Um, King, I'm right here. Mort's the one that's missing."

"Oh, right. Right." He waved his hand dissmisively.

"YOU guys have got to help us!" yelled Marlene. Julien ran forward and shook Kowalski, who had been staring at Bernice. She was awesome...but he hated her for stealing his only glory from him. To Skipper, he didn't matter as much now.

"You, da smart one!" Julien commanded, shaking Kowalski violently. "Yoo hoo! You must do something!"

"Well, I-"

"DO SOMETHING!" everyone commanded, glancing at Julien. He was going crazy and tearing through their boxes...as if Mort was there! Skipper started to object, but as I said before, it was a lost cause.

"Uh, okay. Firstly," Kowalski hesitated, grabbing his clipboard and a pencil, "Where and when did Mort go missing?"

"You silly little penguin! Your King, which is me, is not to be made answer questions! How is the king expected to know?"

Kowalski angrily scribbled something. "Alright, then. Was Mort dissatisfied or upset by you in any way? Did he act peculiarly?"

Julien sighed. "I tell you, penguin. The king does not know these things."

A few such hopeless questions later, Kowalski sat, thinking.

"Have you found the furball yet?" asked Julien impatiently.

Kowalski was outraged. "Well, we have **no** clue when he went missing, why, whether it was intentionally, or....well....any manner of useful information whatsoever!"

"So," the King asked nervously, ''are you getting close?"

"No I most certianly am not! I can't just grasp facts out of thin air!"

"Well, hop to it!"

"Hop to it? Hop to it! We could use your assistance, you know!" Kowalski snapped. _It's as if he doesn't really care about Mort. _he thought to himself. While Julien was going on and on about how he was king, blah blah blah, Skipper called for the penguins to huddle up.

"Kowalski, got anything yet?" asked Skipper.

"No!"

Skipper reacted just about as badly as Julien.

"Kowalski, I'm not paying you for nothing here!"

"You aren't _paying_ me at all!"

"Oh," said Skipper. "Well, Kowalski, try harder! Think! This is important!"

He tried to, but still had nothing. "Well, Skipper, I've been given no facts, no clues, no information to even lead us in the right direction..."

"I thought you were supposed to be the brains, Kowalski!" Skipper said.

"Why don't you try it, then?" Kowalski dared ask. Apparently, they were talking a little too loudly, because Bernice replied from across the room:

"I will!"

Skipper looked over at Bernice, still steaming.

"Bernice, it's a lot harder than-" Kowalski began. Skipper rolled his eyes.

"But I have an idea! For starters, why don't we look in the lemur exhibit for any clues or anything suspicious? Meanwhile, Kowalski can check all of the surveillance cameras!" she said.

"Well put. Good idea." said Kowalski, even more hating (and loving) her now. He couldn't BELIEVE he hadn't thought of that!

"Yes, sounds like a plan." agreed Skipper, eyes narrowing when he met Kowalski's gaze. "Gentlemen, move out!"


	4. The Fight

It was 1800 hours exactly, an hour and seven minutes after Kowalski set off to check all of the surveillance footage. His job proved rather boring, just staring at the screen of Alice's small TV at the back of the Zoovenier shop. (The zoo was closed already, so he had the opportunity to sneak in and watch the tapes.)

He checked all of the tapes from that day in less than 30 minutes, pretty much from late last night up to the present. _'Hmm..'_ he thought, _'I have a hunch...'_

He checked all of the ones from the day before, as well. Still nothing that could help.

He was just about to abandon the footage and the idea altogether when he realized something: Mort wasn't in any of the footage he had looked over! Not even from the previous day, which meant that...

Mort had been gone for days and his own friends hadn't even noticed! (Well, they were sort of his friends anyway. And what GREAT ones, at that.)

Poor little guy. He might have been exaggerating, but Kowalski felt that he and Mort were sort of kindred spirits. Maybe no one would care if he left...

But he only had to rewind the tape of the lemur exhibit about 2 hours to find what he was looking for. In the darkness, a black blob moved unnaturally towards the wall and climbed over. Clearly this was Mort!

Well maybe not clearly. After all the tapes were in black and white and were of poor quality, and it was the middle of the night when this happened. But still, Kowalski was proud to have discovered something that would be useful, hopefully. That'd show Skipper!

Just then Skipper came in throught the window.

"Hello, Kowalski. Just came to see if you've found anything." he said.

"Come have a look at this!" said Kowalski, pointing to the screen and rewinding it to the right time. When the blob once again made its way over the wall, he pointed it out. "You see that?"

"The..uh...blob thingy?"

Kowalski sighed. "Yes, the 'blob thingy.'" Skipper looked confused.

"And...and you think that's...oh.." He almost gave Kowalski credit for a job well done. ALMOST.

"Did you check the tapes for the entrance?"

"Yep, nothing." stated Kowalski. Skipper shook his head.

"Your...blob, could be anything! It could just be a squirrel that fell out of a tree and got into the zoo. It could be a plant or something...there's no way to tell if that's Mort!" he concluded. Kowalski felt foolish to have gotten all worked up about a, "blob," but, he thought, atleast it is a start.

Then he saw what they had found in the exhibit, and he must have shrunken a few feet. Even though penguins are only a couple feet high.

"Now why don't YOU have a look at THIS, Sherlock!" Skipper said back at the lemur exhibit.

And that Kowalski did.

There were footprints - MORT's footprints - leading over the fence. There were signs that Mort had been angry with Julien and that he went of his own will, and for example the picture Mort had drawn of Julien on his thrown had been crossed out. And of course there was the letter from him, which was basically a bunch of crude pictures that sent this message: _"I'm leaving. I'm tired of you guys."_

The last picture was one of Mort's paw raised, and they had no clue what that meant. All of this compared to Kowalski's little blob. He decided not to bring it up.

But they still didn't know where Mort went.

_____________________________________________________________________

Back at the base, Kowalski felt uneasy. He simply couldn't get his mind off of Mort. _Where could he be? Is he okay? Will we find him?_ Right now Kowalski had a probable answer for 2 of those 3 questions. Those answers were both no.

When Rico and Private were already in their bunks, Kowalski thought that since he couldn't sleep, he would go over to work on his shrink ray. Not very useful, since it was supposed to take 712 years, but atleast it helped get his mind off of things...

Until Skipper came inn, anyway, sitting and watching Kowalski check and re-check calculations and fiddle with wires.

"So, having any progress with the shrink ray?" he asked.

"Not hardly, no. The numbers all add up, but it should still take approxametly 712 years. If we're lucky, 700." Kowalski replied.

"No wonder..." said Skipper under his breath. But Kowalski heard him.

"No wonder!?" said Kowalski.

"Since when have you started eavsdropping, Kowalksi!"

"Eavsdropping? But you're right here!"

Skipper had an excuse. It seemed he did for everything. He was going on about something in the military when Kowalski couldn't take it anymore.

"Well, maybe you should go get Bernice to build one for you! I'm sure she'd be glad to!"

"Bernice? What does she have to do with-"

"SHE HAS TO DO WITH EVERYTHING!"

"Whoa, whoa! Manage your temper! I thought I would only ever have to say that to Rico!" Skipper paused. "I don't compute."

"Skipper, ever since-"

"Hold it right there! Are you questioning my authority?"

Kowalski looked confused. "Wha-"

"What is it with you? You're losing it, Kowalski! What you did back there...I can't believe it!"

"Atleast I don't allow for my comrades to plummet to the ground from 50 feet in the air while I pay attention to a half-crazed 'lemur King!'" Kowalski shouted.

"Be strong, Kowalski! I thought we got past that! Besides, they wer-"

"Unauthorised personel, and only authorised personel are permitted at any time. Blah blah blah!" Kowalski recited. It wasn't the first time he had heard that speech.

"Are my ears working correctly? I can't believe what I'm hearing! Kowalski, what is wrong with you? Not to mention you said, blah, blah, blah, rather than some complicated term no one but you has heard of!"

Kowalski was steaming, but kept in mind that Private and Rico were trying to sleep. Well, kept it in mind for awhile, anyway. It ended up in a shouting match and sort of war-of-the-wills.

"It's time to be servious!" said Kowalski.

"You're right! It's time for YOU to stop pretending that you're smarter than the rest of us!"

Kowalski was shocked.

"I mean," continued Skipper, "Maybe I SHOULD get Bernice to fix this! She's clearly more fit for the job than YOU! Just one day, and you were outsmarted by the new otter in town. ONE DAY! Oh, the great Kowalski, who by the way is not so great after all, has been beaten! What a surprise!"

Kowalski got him back. "Oh, the great Military commander Skipper, wanted for fellony in Denmark, is famous all around the globe! He assembled a team of 3: a remarkable accomplishment for penguinkind! His flyers stating his high-rank and glory will be read by all of the eager inhabitants of the trashcan! Amazing! And today, Skipper learned to share! He gave a single fish to one of his team! What a hero he is!"

Okay, maybe exagerating a TINY bit, but still. Kowalski was angry at the conceited, stubborn, harsh leader that he was being! He wasn't thinking clearly, either.

"Name ONE time today that I was such a horrible leader!"

There wasn't time to write about all of them, but Kowalski named 4.

Defeated, Skipper screamed, "I HATE YOU!"

"WELL I HATE YOU!"

"STUCK-UP!"

"WHAT A LEADER YOU ARE!"

"Maybe I WILL get Bernice. Maybe she can join the TEAM, Kowalski! How does that sound! It's what you've always dreamt of, isn't it?"

Kowalski started to say that they only just met her this morning, but ran out of the room and climbed into his bunk instead. Private was sitting up on his, his eyes wide.

"H-H-Hate is a powerful word." he stammered. Oh no. Kowalski hadn't meant to upset him. Rico gave him a vicious glare. It seemed he had tried to cover Private's ears, but he heard, anyway.

Feeling terrible, Kowalski could hear Skipper from the other room.

"Skipper's Log. Today Kowalski completely lost it..."

_He didn't mean in. He didn't mean it. _Kowalski told himself._ He didn't mean it..._

_He meant it. _He lay there for awhile, thinking. Maybe he did lose it?

_Mort, I'm just like poor Mort..._

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Hope you liked this chapter! There will be more soon! PLEASE review!


	5. He's Gone

The next morning, Skipper woke the team surprisingly early. Even earlier than usual! AGAIN.

Seeing the other two penguin's confused expressions, he explained to them that they had to help try to locate Mort after training. They needed to as soon as possible.

After they got out onto that island in the middle of their exhibit, Skipper recited the procedure for their training out loud. "Kick! Flip! Jump!..."

Julien interrupted them. "Um, you three penguins need to shush! Can you not see that your king, which is me, is trying to catch some quality resting time?" he complained. He was SUPPOSED to be looking for Mort.

Skipper continued. "Ignore! Spin! Slide-"

"Uh, Skippa!" said Private, as the others were still sliding and he came to a stop.

"What is it Private?" asked Skipper. He was about to scold him for interrupting training, but from the look on Private's face he decided it was something important.

"W...Where is Kowalski?"

Skipper and Rico immediately stopped their sliding. Skipper looked worried for a second, but then he thought of something. "Oh, he's probably still asleep! Let's go and get him up, boys." He slid down the ladder into HQ. Rico and Private followed, close behind.

Skipper looked to the side at the bunks and found them all deserted. "Hmm..." he thought. "Maybe he's in the bathroom. After all, when a penguin has to go..." He walked over to it, but judging by the open door and the light being off he wasn't in there, either. Back by the bunk, Private stood, horrified.

"S-S-Skippa." Private stammered. "The bed is c-cold and looks like it wasn't slept in..."

Skipper rushed over. He scratched his head. After some thought, he looked under the pillow and found a letter, like Mort's in that it was merely a bunch of pictures. (We all know that Kowalski can't read or write...) There was a picture of Kowalski walking out the door. There was another of an angry face. You get the idea. It basically conveyed the same message that Mort's did.

There was also a picture of him holding up his flipper, only his picture was more clear than Mort's, so they were able to tell that he was high-fiving somebody.

"Oh no." whimpered Private. Rico had a deeply mortified expression.

"W-w-what should we do?" asked Private.

Skipper said nothing.

"Should, should we tell the others?"

Skipper said nothing.

"IS he...going to be okay, Skippa? We'll... we'll find him, right?"

Skipper said nothing.

Private, glancing around helplessly, climbed up out of HQ. Rico followed. He wanted Skipper to think that he was taking charge and had a brilliant plan all worked out, but secretly he had no idea what to do. Kowalski had always been the person to ask for that sort of thing, but...well...he couldn't ask him now.

Skipper stayed frozen completely where he was, aching from the inside horribly. Worse than he ever had, even when he was in the military and fought.

_He, he's gone...he's gone..._ he thought.

_He left. He might never come back! He's gone, he's gone..._

_And it's all my fault._

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I know this chapter was kind of short. The next is better, and I'll post it soon. PLEASE REVIEW!


	6. Running Away

Please note that this chapter took place before chapter 5.

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Kowalski lay there in his bunk, only minutes after their fight had ended. He was extremely...well...to put it into nice terms lets just say he was very upset with Skipper.

_I can't believe HE would pressure me like that!_ he thought. Private and Rico wouldn't talk to him. They probably thought he was turning insane, as well. (Actually, Rico thought they were BOTH insane.)

Kowalski thought about what to do_. Options, Kowalski, Options! _shouted Skipper in his head. Well, he could admitt that Skipper was right and go apologize that instant...but then again, he knew no one wanted to talk to him. _Besides,_ he argued, _Skipper isn't right._

He could act as if nothing happened, but he knew he couldn't keep that up for long.

He could let Skipper cool off a bit and THEN apologize. He looked down, and saw the leader getting into his bunk. Well, that could wait until morning.

He tossed and turned, and thought of Bernice, Mort, and Skipper. He was haunted by dreams of Mort found dead, Skipper kicking him off the team and Bernice taking his place.

_"Wow, what a genius!" mocked Skipper._

_"Ha-ha-ha" laughed Bernice. "You fool, you stupid, worthless fool..."_

_"Stop it!" yelled Kowalski, shaking wildly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."_

_"Too late! Leaders like me shouldn't have to put up with scums like you! You had your chance, and you were beaten...badly! And now Mort is dead!"_

_"Rico, don't let him do this..." pleaded Kowalski. Rico shrugged agolegetically._

_"P-P-Private, help, please..."_

_"Sorry, Kowalski." said Private, turning away. _

_"Press the rejection button!" commanded Skipper, sitting on a throne more grand than King Julien's. Bernice happily and evily pressed hard on a giant, red button, right under Private's "first prize" trophy._

_There was a great buzzing sound that seemed to make the whole room vibrate, and then the floor vanished from beneath Kowalski. He fell down the endless tunnel. "See yah." said Skipper aggravatingly calmly, smiling down at him._

_"NOOO! Skipper............" But they did nothing but watch him fall, waving good-bye....._

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Suddenly Kowalski was shaken awake, a hand over his beak to keep him from shouting.

"Whoa, whoa! I'm not here to hurt you!" said an obviously disguised voice, making sure to be quiet. He released his grip to show that he meant no harm.

"What are you doing here? Who are you!" asked Kowalski, quickly sitting up in his cold, hard bunk.

"Shhh...keep it down." said the voice. "Who I am is none of your concern. Just call me Z. Now as to why I'm here...I think you know why."

"Um...I dont believe I do." Kowalski replied.

Z sighed. Kowalski got a better look at him, and had no idea what animal he even was. He was covered with baggy black clothes from head to toe, all exept for his distinctly bright-blue eyes.

"Skipper is mistreating you. You know you deserve better! You know it!"

"How-"

"But he is! He is cruel and is not fit to be your leader! He has no compassion whatsoever, and gives you no credit for everything that you do! Don't you ever feel left out?"

Kowalski stared.

Z went on. "He favors the otter over you! He doesn't care for you, and I don't see why you put up with him. Why do you take all of that!!!?"

Kowalski interjected. "Skipper is..."

"Oh come on, Kowalski!" Kowalski looked up at the sound of his name. "I know that you know that's true! Is this the first time that he's done this?"

To that, Kowalski didn't know what to say. "It's no big deal. I get past it..."

"Do you really get past it, or do you just not talk about it because he tells you to?"

"Where are you getting this information? And what am I to do about it? Skipper is the leader...by the way do I know you from somewhere?"

Z grinned. "Well, that's a good question. It's a good question because here, you can't do anything about it! And that's how it will always be! Not to mention THEY think YOU"RE going insane!"

"Wait a minute, where are you going with this-"

"Have you ever thought about, maybe, leaving the team?"

Kowalski was taken aback. "What! Why would I do that?"

"Well, what have you got to lose? You could stay with me after you leave, and you'll be treated as an equal. And if you decide you don't like me after all, you could find a different zoo to go to- I know several! Or, you could always just go back to Skipper and the others. By then they'll have realized how much you really matter and will treat you better, or they really are all jerks! Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, here. I know that the whole rest of the team covers in fear when they think they've done something wrong in his eyes. But you're smart enough to do something for yourself!"

Kowalski tried to think, but his mind was strangely clouded. It tempted him....it tempted him...

"Well, the choice is yours. I'll be by the South Entrance of the zoo until 1:00 AM. That'll give you time to think. If you decide to take my offer, then you know where to find me..."

In the blink of an eye, he was gone. Kowalski rubbed his eyes, trying to convince himself that he had been dreaming...

But he knew he hadn't been.

He was to dazed to realize that he DID know "Z" from somewhere...

_______________________________________________________________________

It was 0104 hours; four minutes after Z's deadline. They remained in the semi-darkness at the South Entrance, however. Z knew Kowalski would come. He knew that penguin. Z had never failed yet, and as brainy as Kowalski seemed, he knew he wouldn't tonight, either.

"Z, this is swisscheese here." said a pheasant into a walkie-talkie type gadget from his perch on a nearby tree. "I don't think he's coming! Really, I think we failed this time!"

"Swisscheese, this is Z. Oh come on. He'll come. Be patient. IT always works." He turned out to be right.

The pheasant was excited when he saw Kowalski anxiously looking around, pack in hand, coming up the path. "Hello? Z?" he asked. "Z?" Are you still there?" He shivered as a gust of wind rustled through his feathers.

"Z, he came! He came!" the pheasant exclaimed.

"Good, good. I knew he would. We know what to do!"

At that moment, Kowalski walked right by the tree. "Um, hello? Is anyone there?"

"Yes, we know what to do!"

Kowalski stopped in his tracks and looked up at the tree as something hid in the branches, moving out of sight. He squinted and saw a dark...blob. Strangely familiar...

"We've got him!" said the blob.

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Did you like it? Ha ha cliffhanger. Please review! Wonder what happens to Kowalski... (dramatic music) I'll post soon.


	7. The Discovery

Skipper was still standing there, frozen in horror and realization, when Private stuck his head down through the fishbowl entrance.

"Skippa?" asked Private. "Skippa, are you okay?"

Skipper said nothing and remained with his back to him. Marlene poked her head in, as well. "M-maybe you should come down to the Zoovenier. We're holding a meeting there soon." she suggested, looking upside-down at him. "We could use your help."

Skipper said nothing.

"C'mon, Skipper. It's no use doing NOTHING."

Skipper said nothing.

Private, in an attempt to comfort his leader, whispered to Marlene, "You go on ahead to the Zoovenier. I'll be there soon." Reluctantly, she drew her head back up and was on her way, because they could hear the slight pat-pat-pat sound of her feet on the ground above. When it was no longer audible, Private slowly climbed down the ladder, and cautiously approached Skipper.

"Skippa?" he asked, a little nervously. "Skippa...I know you feel bad that Kowalski is gone. I do too." Private was crying now, his voice slightly trembling. "But now we're going to get him back. Help us, please, we need you."

It was a good thing he was facing the other way, because Skipper would be ashamed if Private saw him, teary, with a red face and swelled eyes.

Private paused, then went on. "We're taking action now, to find our friend. We'll find him in no time." At this, he went over to his leader and put a flipper on his shoulder. "I can understand if you don't come. B-b-but w-w-we'll..."

Now his voice was trembling so much that he could barely speak at all. "We'll find him, Skippa. We will." he managed to say at last, after a long silence. "We will."

Private slowly waddled away, climbed up the ladder, and made his way to the Zoovenier.

Skipper fell on his bottom in defeat, not knowing anything anymore. The only thing his blasted mind could think to do was say, _Options, Kowalski, options..._ he had to stop himself 3 times. _Options, Kowalski, options..._he had come to rely on that, he supposed.

Only now did the realization flow into him. He missed Kowalski, yes. Skipper cared for his troops deep down more than he had ever admitted to anyone...and that must have been the greatest difference between him and Captain.

But now he had to take action, if they wanted a chance at finding Kowalski at all. Marlene was right: it was no use sitting here doing nothing but feeling miserable.

Skipper wiped away the tears on his face, got up, and made his way to the Zoovenier Shop.

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It was 8:00 AM at the Zoovenier Shop, where Phil, Mason, Rico, Private, King Julien, Maurice, Marlene, and Bernice gathered to try to locate Mort and Kowalski. Unfortunately, they weren't getting very far.

"Okay, guys, settle down!" said Marlene, after they began fighting loudly rather than helping at all. AGAIN. Angry, Marlene ran on top of a box of stuffed animals, looked around, and yelled at the top of her lungs,

**"QUIET!"**

Immediately everyone was dead silent and looked up at her. "Thank you. We only have until 9:00 before the employees come in, so that gives us 1 hour."

Private and Rico looked afraid. They exchanged a glance. Bernice looked nervous.

Julien, on the other hand, looked both bored and irritated. "Um, the King is supposed to be having a foot massage right now. Make with the massaging!"

"Quiet, Julien!" demanded Marlene. "This is an important meeting, in case you haven't noticed!"

Julien looked at her, startled. "And, um, may I ask why that is?"

Everyone glared intensely at him, especially the two penguins.

"Um...sorry...I'll be quiet now..."

Just then Skipper came in.

"Hey, Skipper," said Marlene, "Thank goodness you came-"

"So what have you got so far?" he asked.

"Well...nothing actually..."

"Oh."

Marlene looked determined, however, to lead this group of tired babies. "Alright, people, people...um...what do we do now?..."

Phil said something to Mason in sign language back in their corner. "Hmm..." said Mason, "Alright, alright." He cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention. "Phil says, first of all, when did Kowalski leave?"

"Just last night." answered Private.

"Does it look like he left because he wanted to, or because someone took him?"

"We're pretty sure he went because he wanted to."

"Pretty sure?" asked Bernice, nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Well...95% sure." confirmed Skipper.

Marlene sighed. "Doesn't your HQ have a security system?"

"No. It's defective. We never got around to repairing it."

"Hmm...but that doesn't mean your cameras don't work, does it?" Marlene was thankful for once of Skipper's "minor" paranoria.

Skipper smiled. "I like the way your mind works, Marlene. Gentlemen," he said, addressing Private and Rico, "Move out. Check all security footage."

"The ones you made us install after the incident at New Years, sir?" asked Private. Skipper turned a deep shade of red.

"Yes! That one! Check it."

"Good idea." commented Maurice, who hadn't said much the entire time.

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It was 1800 hours: time for everyone to come to the penguin's base to see what they found during the day. They were greeted by a horrified-looking Skipper, who was pacing back and forth on the island in their habitat.

"Uh...hi?" said Marlene, a hint of question in her voice. Skipper must have jumped ten feet back.

"Eggs and bacon, Marlene!" he yelled, startled. Looking around to be sure that they were the only ones, (they meaning the chimps, the otters and the lemurs) he lifted the fish bowl on the entrance and motioned for everyone to come inside. It was a bit of a squeeze, but they managed.

"Okay. What you're about to see is classified information-" began Skipper when everyone got in and sat in front of their TV.

"Just show us." said Marlene, rolling her eyes. Skipper put in one of the tapes and they watched the screen.

"This might be a shock."

It had been five minutes and so far, nothing had moved or changed in the least. The camera looked onto their whole enclosure from an arial view, possibly a high tree. Julien was half asleep when finally, a dark blob moved across the screen, climbing into their habitat from elsewhere and looking around, not knowing what to do. Eventually it happened to discover that the fishbowl was concealing the entrance to their subterranean base, and it climbed down in.

Bernice looked like she was going to have a heart attack. "I'm sure it's nothing..."

Skipper held up a remote and pressed the pause button, freezing the black blob where it was. Everyone was gaping at the screen.

"S-so," said Marlene, "so he didn't go willingly?" Bernice growled.

Skipper shrugged, wondering why Bernice was acting so strangely. "See what you think after you see this." He inserted a different tape and pressed the play button on the remote. This time the camera was inside the base, looking right in the direction of the ladder entrance and the bunks. Almost right away, everyone could see that same black blob, making its way down the ladder and over to Kowalski's bunk. And, minus the sound, they saw everything that this blob did.

First, it poured a liquid down Kowalski's throat through his open mouth, and a few moments later they shook him awake, holding a...well...limb or whatever it was over his beak to keep him from shouting. Then they began conversing, and the worried animals that were glued to the screen pleaded for some sound! None came, unfortunately...

Skipper once again paused it, after the dark figure left the room, leaving a startled Kowalski sitting there awake. Marlene shook Skipper. "So they...whoever this was...probably took him? And Mort, possibly?"

"We think so." he replied. "Oh, and look at this." The short penguin went over to the bunks and grabbed a pack that was laying on one. He carried it back over, passing it to Marlene.

"We found this by the South Entrance to the zoo." Skipper informed her. "Seems Kowalski went out there for some reason and they...whoever THEY are...snatched him."

Everyone looked like they had just been told that a friend died.

"S-S-Skippa, who are they? Where did they take him?" asked Private.

Skipper looked up, with the most frightening look that any of them had ever seen on him. "I don't know. But we're going to find out."


	8. Miserable Box

Thanks everyone for the reviews! Here is the next chapter... (dramatic music plays)

(this chapter takes place before chapter 7, but on the same day.)

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When he woke up, Kowalski found himself in a large box, in semi-darkness. All he remembered distinctly was an ambush, and then merely utter darkness. He looked through a hole in the side and found that a window was in sight. Judging by the position of the sun, he could tell that it was nearly 7:00 AM, and looking around him he realized he wasn't alone.

There were several other glum-looking animals in the box, as well, and of them he knew only one.

"Ouchie!" exclaimed Mort, when Kowalski accidentally stepped on his tail upon taking a step forward. Everything was just so crowded in there!

"Oh, sorry, Mort...wait a second, MORT?"

"Penguin?"

The two looked at each other, startled. Kowalski shook his head. "Where are we?"

"That's for us to know, and you...not to!" said a voice from outside of the box. Kowalski looked through the hole again, and saw that the box was in the corner of a gigantic room, with walls paint-lessand made of depressingly dirty stone. Directly behind the box in the room was a door, but on the other side of it was a large group of animals, standing there staring at him. A few were penguins, but there were also pigeons, pheasants, monkeys, several other types of animals, and (Kowalski was utterly shocked) one unsure-looking otter, who was the only one he recognized.

"B-Bernice?"

She raised her eyebrows at him. Then, a pheasant, who must have been the one who spoke before, went on.

"Silly penguin. They are so easily fooled!" A few of the penguins in the group looked at him angrily, growling. "Uh...but not you guys! You guys are great!" They seemed to relax a little. _Wow, they really are easily fooled._

"Don't you need to get back to the zoo, Bernice?" asked Kowalski mockingly. "I'm sure everyone will be missing you dearly when they discover what you've done."

Bernice rolled her eyes. " Those idiots wouldn't know a murderer if one stood two feet in front of them holding a chainsaw and yelled, MUST MURDER!" At the word murder, Kowalski's heart sank. If these guys were murderers and his friends hadn't found out yet, things weren't looking too good for him.

Seeing the look on Kowalski's face, Bernice continued. "Oh, don't worry. We won't kill YOU atleast, probably. The furball is a different story, but you-" She shook her head. "Anyways, Skipper prefers me to you now! So does the whole team!"

Kowalski was shocked. "Well, when they see that it was YOU that-"

"Wait wait wait! First of all, it wasn't JUST me who did this. Secondly, if they find you or we tell them, who says we'll tell them who we are? We're masters of disguise!" (hadn't he heard that in a movie before?) Strangely, Kowalski thought he saw a look of extreme regret and sorrow on her face, but it passed.

"That's right, penguin! Z's right!" said a rather dumb-looking gorilla. Bernice threw a glare of disgust at him, which clearly said, _You idiot! He wasn't supposed to_ _know that! I'm going to KILL you!_Upon receiving this, he was filled with shame. "Oops. Sorry."

Bernice smacked herself.

"Y-y-you're Z?" stuttered Kowalski.

Bernice looked at the ground and said nothing.

"We thought we'd never get you to come. We were about to give up, but we knew that the li- **IT**, I mean, always works. Sure enough, you came." said the pheasant.

Kowalski was confused. "IT?"

They just grinned at each other, which made his heart-oops, I mean the rock at the bottom of his stomach, drop still further. If that was even possible.

"Z, he's right, though. Maybe you should get back to your zoo or they'll be suspicious." said a monkey. "Here, take this to communicate with us. We'll deal with Louis." He handed her a walkie-talkie. (Sorry I don't know a better word for it...)

Bernice took the walkie-talkie. "Yeah...you're right. Let's get outta here. I'm off."

All of the animals went around the box and crowded to get out the door- probably because of the putrid odor that smelled as if something was rotting. Bernice was the only one (besides the animals inside the box) that was left in the room, and she was about to make her exit, as well.

But just before she shut the door behind her and held up a key to lock it, she stopped. As if having a personal struggle, she stood there for a minute, thinking. _Come on, Bernice. It's just another one. Just another one...how come I've never struggled like this with any of the other morons? _Finally, she said, looking Kowalski in the eyes, "I'll help you."

But she still left.

Long after she put the key in the lock and trapped them in the room, even though they were in a box already, Kowalski was playing that moment over and over in his head. She had outsmarted him, as few could, and he was ashamed as well as furious.

He was lost in his own thoughts when Mort suddenly tugged on his left flipper. Looking down, he asked, "What is it, Mort?"

Mort seemed taken aback, like he should already know what he wanted. "Well, penguin," he replied in his cute yet annoying voice, "um...you come up with a plan now." Kowalski raised his eyebrows.

"Mort, it's utterly useless. Although the structure of this box is weak and we could kick it apart with some effort, the door in the room is locked, and only a guard has a key to it. I'd suggest we didn't waste our efforts on the box because they'll just trap us in another, probably stronger one." said Kowalski.

"Oh." Mort sat down, defeated. As did everyone else who had been listening.

Kowalski sighed, not knowing what to do while he was trapped in this smelly wooden crate.

The day was slow and long to him, and one of the animals in the box was dragged away to who-knows-where at one point. Eventually Kowalski couldn't take it anymore!

He tried to plot some more to escape and had cooked up a pretty good plan, but the (rather buff) guards overheard, even when they whispered to each other. After concluding that, "That one is a dangerous one," they tied Kowalski's flipper's behind his back, and that was the end of that.

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Thanks for reading! The next chapter is longer, so it might take awhile to post...


	9. Getting COLDER?

I'm sorry that this took so long to post! I had writer's block and had to change this chapter a lot, but now I will try to update every few days or so. Enjoy! (...this one is really long...sorry if it's really boring. The next'll be better)

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After watching the security footage, you may think that the animals were on a roll. Of course it had seemed that way at first, if only because this was the first thing that they had done to lead them any closer to Kowalski and Mort since they left. But after a long, awkward moment of silence, everyone could do nothing more than scratch their heads helplessly.

"Um, okay penguins, that was nice and all. The king does like a good movie. But uh, now what?!?!?" Julien demanded. No one looked up.

It wasn't hard to guess the types of thoughts that were going through everyone's minds.

_Uh..........._

_Um........_

_Hmm..._

_Uh..._

_UHHHHH..._

Basically, their minds were all on the same frequency. Eventually Skipper broke the silence by pretty much speaking his mind.

"Hmm...well...um..."

Immediately everyone turned towards him anxiously, and as if trying to send him a telepathic message, 8 minds screamed,

_Yes! Yes! Go on, go ON!_

_Finally! _

_Yes! C'mon!_

"Hmm..." Feeling the many pairs of widened eyes locked on him, Skipper shut his eyes tight. When he tried to think, it was as if a nonstop buzz inside his head made it impossible.

_Aahh! We're stuck! Nothing is coming out of this!_ He hit the side of his head in frustration.

Without warning, an image of Kowalski scribbling in his notebook came to mind and he was struck by an extreme tidal wave of sadness.

_To Skipper, he was lost in a dark tunnel. He was alone and confused and unsure, sweat trickling down his creased forehead. He breathed fast, shallow breaths, his chest heaving. He longed to find the light, the end of the tunnel atlast...but he had no idea how to get to it. He thought he might not get to it at all. It was a cold, pitch-black, damp-smelling tunnel, and the air itself gave off a hopeless feeling. His heart pumped like a drum inside him. His vision and sense were blurred, his mind overloaded. He ran with all of his willpower, dreading that he was on the road to failure once again. Or that he was too late._

_The burden lay on his shoulders, the pressure weighing him down. He didn't want to let everyone down, and he knew that he COUDLN'T, he MUSTN'T.......... but he was afraid of failure. It was one of the few things he was truely and deeply afraid of._

_Oh, Kowalski, if only you were here! I don't know what to do... but I know you would. _He shivered and sighed loudly. After a moment of awkward silence, he came to his senses.

"Alright!" He exclaimed, still unsure but trying to seem like he knew what he was doing. He had to keep the others confident that they would get somewhere, so he decided to just play it by ear.

His sudden snap back into reality caught everyone off guard. Bernice timidly jumped and fell back onto Marlene. Marlene tumbled and fell hard onto a very surprised Maurice. Then, while all three were still struggling to get up off of each other, Julien ignorantly strutted by them with his head up high, his nose in the air. "You freaks! All of this noise is hurting my awesome royal eaRS!!!-" He slipped on Maurice and flipped through the air, landing right on his bottom with a big thump.

The chimps grinned at each other and pointed at the dazed king. "This is the best entertainment we've seen in weeks. That was hilarious, Mr. Royal Pain."

Confused as he was, Julien recognized disrespect towards him when he heard it. "Y-you freaks! You do not talk to the Royal KING in such a way!" He sat up and slapped Maurice for no reason, full-force.

"Um...that hurt!" Maurice yelled, outraged. He stared at his half-mad leader.

"Well duh, my chunky monkey, it was SUPPOSED to hurt! The way you f-f-freaks hurt the king's royal feelings!"

The chimps exchanged a confused glance. They just didn't understand Julien's logic sometimes. "Um...okay..." Mason started. He looked over at Skipper. "You were saying?"

Skipper was a little taken aback. "Oh...yeah...right. Uh...listen carefully to what I tell you to do!" Several heads nodded in unison, begging him to go on. The penguin first turned to his men.

"Boys, watch some more of the security footage. Pay close attention to what happens by the south entrance!" He put a flipper to his chin, thinking. "Well, you can start by-"

But the two penguins ran from his side to the box of tapes in front of the TV, before he even had a chance to finish. Skipper shook his head as they pushed and shoved to get in the box, and tripped over each other in the frenzy.

He turned to the chimps next, who were staring with marvel at Private and Rico's unexpected actions.

"Phil! Mason! Search Alice's old computer for anything that might be useful!" The way he said it it sounded so urgent, so the two chimps ran out the door, slamming it in their excitement.

"Bernice! Marlene!" Bernice whirled around at the sound of her name, on edge, thinking she was in big trouble for sure. Marlene just looked up curiously at the sound of the suddenly authoritative penguin. "Around the table!" Bernice sighed of relief and anxiety at the same time. The worry in the sigh was very noticeable. She looked unnaturally suspicious, and laughed a shrill, humorless laugh.

Skipper, eying her suspiciously, sat down at one side of the cement brick that served as their table. Marlene and Bernice did the same. Anxious all over again, the two otters stared at him across the table, waiting for some magic solution. They were genuinely surprised when they heard a deep voice from across the room.

"Uh...what should WE do?" asked Maurice, standing beside Julien at the other side of the room. He glanced at his toes nervously, waiting for Skipper's responce.

Julien shook his head in annoyance. "No, Maurice! You mean what am **I** to do?!?!?!" He shoved Maurice to the ground with one outstretched, skinny arm. Skipper was surprised that the wimpy lemur could do such a thing, especially to Maurice, considering his size...

Skipper looked at them thoroughly, trying to come up with something that they could do without being a hazard to the entire mission. He rested his head on his flippers, deep in thought. When he could come up with nothing, he had to decide which job he could put up with them messing up terribly...

"Uh...why don't you two go by the south entrance to look for clues." he suggested, eventually convincing himself that they wouldn't find anything to destroy, anyways. He had already checked and double-checked the site.

"You silly little penguin!" Julien replied, walking over to Skipper. He bent down to where he was sitting and pinched his cheek, cooing. "I had no idea you were so stupidy stupid! What makes you think I would want to do that?"

Skipper was outraged. He got to his feet angrily, forcing Julien to back away a few steps. "Alright then, you can clean the bathroom and look for clues there!"

Maurice's jaw dropped. The mere thought of cleaning penguin poo, whatever it looked like, was too much to bear. "You wouldn't-" Skipper raised an eyebrow at him, begging him to challenge him further. "Okay......you would. Julien, let's just go do what he says!"

Maurice went over and put a hand on Julien's shoulder, but he was shaken off. In his anger, Julien _again_ pushed Maurice to the ground with one arm. He glared straight ahead of him at Skipper, whose hands were on his hips. "And WHY would I do THAT? You penguins don't know how to treat a king!.......... And, phew, get some air fresheners in here! Make it quick!"

Skipper growled. "Ringtail, you moron, what would you want us to do if YOU were missing?!?"

"Hmm...well, probably like, scream and run around a lot...........and rescue me. After all, who could live without my kingly awesomeness?"

Skipper could barely hold back the nasty comments. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, trying to stop himself from shaking, knowing that you had to appear calm yourself to get someone to listen to you. (Most of all Julien.) "Um...okay... Exactly. So now don't you think we should do something to rescue Mort and Kowalski? You would be a HERO. And a king like you should be VERY herioc."

Julien looked at him thoughtfully, seriously considering him for once. He was about to say yes when he remembered that this was other people they were talking about, and not him. "Um, tell me again why I should be caring? That THING...I mean Mort, is super gross. My eyes are still stinging from the last time I looked at him. And as for Kowsli... who's Kowsli again?"

That did it.

"You son of a!-" Skipper didn't get a chance to finish.

Knowing things would get ugly if he didn't act soon, Rico rushed in front of Skipper. Turning around to face his leader, he held out his arms to keep him from going crazy. "UUHHH UHH!"

Skipper glared through narrowed eyes from Rico, who was gaping at him, to a frantic Maurice, to Julien.

_JULIEN!!!!!!!!!!_

Forcing himself to calm down and stay rooted to the ground, Skipper shakily leaned back on his feet and tried to appear relaxed. He walked up to Julien calmly, stopping a foot away from him. Hesitantly deciding that Skipper wasn't going to claw Julien to death, Rico backed out of the way.

Taking a deep breath, Skipper went on. "Okay, okay. Ringtail, listen up. We all are trying to get Mort and _Kowalski _back, but we all have to do our part to help each other!"

Julien smirked in amusement, as if trying to teach a preschooler a very simple, valuable lesson. "But YOU are not doing anything, so you just need to shut up a little bit."

"WHA- Ringtail, are you actually suggesting that I don't C-CARE?-"

"Man, you penguins are so slow! If you had cared about these mystery people at all, WHOEVER they are, then we would be on our way to them right now!(and by **we, **I mean everyone except me)" He arched an eyebrow, and Skipper was struck by a wave of sadness when he realized how much that looked like something Kowalski would have done.

_The tunnel was closing up..._

"Listen here, punk! These MYSTERY PEOPLE just happen to be your friends! And it's not that simple, you stupid, immature- well let's just say that if you say something bad about Kowalski or ANYONE again, then you'll be snapped like a toothpick without a second thought!" Skipper could feel the steam coming out of his ears as he longed to beat the self-centered idiot to a pulp, like he deserved!

Julien began to back away several steps, his expression showing fear and surprise. He looked behind himself for a moment, and when he saw no one else standing behind him, he turned back to face the outraged penguin. "Um...wait a second here, are YOU talking to ME?"

"YES I'M TALKING TO YOU, AND IF YOU DON'T GET OUT THERE RIGHT NOW-"

"Then what, exactly, freak? Are you going to call what's left of your little team of dogs on me? _Sick 'em boys, sick 'em!"_Julien mocked Skipper's voice. He laughed uncontrollably to himself. "_Sick 'em, and make him look for the stupid runaway doggie for me while ur at it!"_ His side ached as he belly-laughed in Skipper's face.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH JULIEN OR I"LL KNOCK IT OFF OF YOUR FACE!"

_The light in the tunnel was far, far away now..._

"Oh, but I don't think the doggie is coming back, you idiot! Maybe the doggie is lucky and smart to have run!"

**"DON'T TRY IT!!!"**Julien knew far more about their life than Skipper had ever thought he had paid attention to...and it was scary...

"After all, Skippy just wanted to get rid of the bad doggies to make room for better doggies. Good doggies that could do what he wanted and weren't so dumb and useless to him!" Again, he chuckled nonstop.

Bernice gasped audibly from where she sat.

_**That was the last straw!**_

Skipper, growling in his red-hot fury, ran full-force at Julien. He had had ENOUGH of him after all this time, and today the moron had let his mouth run wild. He had said the wrong thing.

Skipper was tired of putting up with it! IT HAD TO END!

At once the lemur stopped his nonsense and looked up, terrified. Furious Skipper was certianly a **_VERY_** terrifying sight. **"I'M GOING TO _KILL_ YOU!!!"**

**"AAAHHHH!!!"**screamed King Julien, crossing his arms in front of his face in an attempt to protect himself like the coward he was. He shut his eyes, waiting for the pain which he knew was to come. This was it! He was going to face Skipper's growing fury! He was going to _DIE!!!!_

He gulped and tensed up, waiting for the impact to come any second. But strangely, nothing happened! Ten seconds passed, then twenty. He could feel the sweat gathering on him. A full minute went by and he was still alive!

Opening one eye a millimeter, Julien realized, much to his relief, that Skipper was no longer charging at him.

He lowered his arms and opened his eyes fully to gaze in wonder at the dramatic scene in front of him. Private and Rico had rushed in front of their violent leader and restrained him, and Marlene and Bernice scrambled to his side, as well. They held him tight, and no matter how he kicked and squirmed and _**hurt** _them to break free, they held on with a death grip, refusing to let go. They couldn't let him hurt and very possibly kill Julien! He needed to calm down and come to his senses...

"LET-GO-OF-ME!!!!" Skipper shouted as he punched Private in the face and worked his legs, as if he were on ground and could run away. Private slackened his grip for a moment in pure terror and shock, clutching his stinging face. Rico growled deeply and slapped Skipper back, hard. Skipper was utterly petrified, still in a state of disbelief at everything that had happened.

Julien mumbled something under his breath about his short temper, and Maurice came to his side. He put an assuring arm around his shoulder and guided him towards the back door. _"C'mon, Julien...... let's go. We should leave now." _

_"To the south entrance?"_

_"To the south entrance it is."_

Skipper stopped struggling. He stared after them, slacking his muscles and his jaw hanging open. He watched sadly as Julien left with Maurice. The world around him grew quieter, more distant, his vision clouded.

_Maurice, Maurice, Maurice is always there for Julien, to h-help_ _him, Maurice..._

_He thought of Kowalski, who had helped him always.  
Who was always there for him, no matter how everyone else doubted him.  
Who was understanding and assuring in the worst of times.  
Who knew him better than anyone else- possibly better than he himself.__  
Who was alone somewhere, far away, waiting helplessly..._

The thought of what Kowalski could be going through now, all because of his one big mistake, sent shivers down Skipper's spine. Especially now that the light in the tunnel seemed miles away. He wanted to blame it all on Julien. Julien, stupid, self-centered Julien who tried to tell everyone that he didn't care. It would be so easy to simply remain forever angry at him, to hold him accountable for their loss, but deep down Skipper couldn't. He was the one who really drove Kowalski away. It was all his fault.

_"Kowalski...Kowalski....." Skipper felt the words form on his tongue. He failed to realize, however, that he said them out loud. "Kowalski..."_

Private looked at Rico, tears in his eyes. Rico had a million expressions on his face, and Marlene and Bernice looked stunned by the realization of an unpleasant truth. They felt out of place, but like they should do _something_ at the same time.

_"Kowalski, Kowalski..." Skipper tried to remain unreadable, but the others could read him like a book._

_He was in the worst pain of his life._

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Thanks for all of the reviews I've been getting! They are awesome! Hopefully this chapter wasn't too boring, but it certianly WAS long. I'll try to post the next one in the next couple of days, and it'll get more exciting...hopefully. Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter because I really appreciate getting reviews, and I won't know if I do something wrong otherwise.


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